CHEC members work together to plant the model kitchen garden
About Nyanturago
FAST FACTS:
Village Location: KISII COUNTY
# of Villagers: 1,200
Village Started: OCTOBER 2022
# of Households Surveyed: 120
# of Villagers Who Started in the CHEC: 111
Graduation Date: MAY 24, 2023
# Graduated from Health Training: 70
# of Participants in Economic Training: 70
2023/2024 Primary Economic Groups:
BEEKEEPING
Nyanturago is GHC's 11th village and the 2nd of our 6 new Rotary Club Grant villages. It is located in Kisii county, Masaba south sub-county, Nyaribari Masaba constituency, Nyamasibi Ward, Nyamasibi location, Nyanturago sub-location. It is about 37 Km southeast of Kisii, and takes roughly 50 minutes to drive there.
In late-October 2022, GHC finished conducting the three Baseline surveys--Health, Economic and Social Impact--on 120 households. We found that most households had disorganized kitchen gardens or none at all and either bought their vegetables from the market or didn't eat vegetables. A decent number of households in Nyanturago live in mud walled houses, with grass thatched or rusty iron sheet roofs, which leak when it rains. The houses tend to be poorly smeared and most have no places in their kitchens to place their utensils. Most households had hand washing stations but a good number were non-functional because they lacked soap and disinfectants. Most households had poorly built pit latrines, with mud walls and floors made of logs.
The results of the baseline surveys told us there was tremendous opportunity for behavior change, and health and economic empowerment in this village. We began our our health training curriculum in January 2023 and conducted hands-on model kitchen, latrine and tippy-tap station demonstrations. Member turnout was low in the beginning but began to grow as members began to see the value in attending meetings. This club really embraced the opportunity to build kitchen gardens and most members now have flourishing and healthy ones from which they can feed their families.
In late May we graduated 70 members from the CHEC!
The 70 graduates all continued on to the economic training curriculum and will now be involved in beekeeping. Construction of the new apiary, which will house 40 hives, was completed in November 2023. For more information on the apiary, visit https://greenerhillshoney.org/nyanturago
A CHEC Member teaching the group about skin diseases
A CHEC member with her seeds
The CHEC members during a health training session
The CHEC members during a session on planting their kitchen gardens